East wrestlers open with win

SEYMOUR — Columbus East’s wrestlers scored the initial takedown in eight matches and came up with four pins and four decisions on those bouts to defeat Seymour 47-18 on the Owls’ mat Thursday night.

Olympians coach Chris Cooper was pleased the way his team came out and wrestled aggressive.

“That stretch of our lineup (120 to 170) just coming out and looking to take control, that’s the style we want to wrestle — just going out there and getting after it,” Cooper said. “‘Don’t wait around, go get your points,’ and those guys definitely did that.”

After falling behind 15-0 and 21-6, Joey Gordon came up with East’s first win of the night with a 4-2 decision over Owen Chandler at 120. Gordon broke a 2-2 tie with a reversal for the win.

Graham Rooks dominated his opponent, Nate Bannister, with takedowns and near falls at 132 before gaining a pin in 4:52.

Dawson Combest took control against Colton Hensley at 138 with a quick takedown and gained the pin in 1:27, and Jake Schoenegge didn’t give up a point to Brandon Penegar at 145 before getting a pin in 1:43.

Corbin Pollitt held a 3-2 lead on Jacob Kriete after two periods of their 152-pound match before getting a near fall in the third period for a 6-2 win. Nick South pinned Zack Newton in 1:26 at 160, and Andy Davidson scored a 17-2 decision over Jake Rotert at 170.

With East winning the state Class 5A state football championship last weekend, Cooper said he was without several of his heavier wrestlers and had younger wrestlers filling on those positions. Noah White (182), Lane Goode (195), Brycen Copeland (220) and Erik Cardoso (285) lost decisions.

Jeremy Clark received a forfeit at 113 for the Olympians.

“We always start later because of football,” Cooper said. “These guys have been practicing for four or five weeks and they were ready to come out and wrestle somebody else. I’m pretty excited there. In all the positions through the main part of our lineup we looked pretty solid.”

Cooper said he was pleased to see a couple of his junior wrestlers come out and wrestle aggressive. The Olympians had four pins in those matches.

“I think the biggest thing is, at times we looked OK moving our feet and hand-fighting, but other times, we were either using our upper half or our lower half, but not everything together,” Cooper said. “The plan (today) is spending a lot of time working on that.”